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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 39, Number 21, September 6, 1976.

Auckland University Students Association (Impressions of August Council)

Auckland University Students Association (Impressions of August Council)

— David Miliband

Contrary to popular opinion around Vic, NZUSA is not a puppet of the National Officers and VUWSA. It was obvious at August Council of NZUSA that Auckland weilds crucial power through their 9 votes (Vic gets 6) and has much influence on other campuses in more subtle ways.

With such power, it would be reasonable to expect to have a highly developed student democracy. Without indulging in the merits of our own unique SRC system, it seems that Auckland lags far behind in the implementation of a scheme that attempts to act in the interests of their students and gels SRC policy into an actionable direction.

Auckland students give supreme power to their executive which is made up of 16 persons ranging from President down to Capping Controler and Societies Rep. Their SRC is relatively powerless and spends most of it's time debating domestic matters and giving away money. It is made up of the Exec, faculty reps and other odd bods. All are appointed and it is held in closed session - students don't get a vote. The set up means that the exec makes the policy anyway and SRC ends up as a swollen appendage which neither, achieves student representation or has any power.

Changes are underway to give more power to SRC and prune the exec down to 11. This still does not seem radical enough to give students the muscle to dictate policy to the exec.

Despite these failures, AUSA seems capable of carrying off large and sucessful campaigns. 7,000 students went on the bursaries march and a similar number mar marched on Hiroshima day against nuclear warships. Their formula is big money $5,000 spent on these two campaigns alone. Muster mind behind these is Michael Treen - effectively the political leader of the exec and looking forward to presidential control in 1977. His political initiative is very much by de fault - AUSA exec's not having a particularly radical tradition.

Mike Walker, Auckland's president has the problem of administering a huge campus of students and an unwieldy exec. So far he has handled this competently a bit of thrashing about on the cafe problem in the first term - but his image as an administrator is respected by the other campuses. His most notable achievement this year has been to tell the university that he would dissolve the Studass if they loaded too much admin work on the Association. Although acheiving harmony on the Exec and bringing good people in to SRC, politically he is conservative with the exception of racial issues on which he is clear and progressive.

Politically, Mike Treen has the monopoly although his Trotskyist line doesn't always rub up the right way - especially at council. Auckland students seem reasonably tolerant of the Trotskyists compared with the 'strained' relationships at Vic.

One excellent feature of AUSA 'democracy' is the no-confidence provision in exec elections which has meant that the presidential and 4 exec positions were left unfilled at this years elections. Vic is soon (with the ratification of a SGM) to adopt this provision.

For such a big campus to fail to come to grips with it's students problems is a disturbing situation - especially as they spend so much student money in campaigns based on policy made mainly on the exec. Their line at August council seemed inconsistent and confused at times, and at a time where the importance of a cohesive NZUSA is primary, this is not a good situation.

Photo of students

The Unholy, Alliance-Auckland's Mike Treen ant Otago's A1 Broad Brian Glimour